A final report from Professor Jeremy Weber’s spring capstone class has garnered significant media attention since its release last week.
In their 37-page paper, sent to city officials for consideration as they craft policy for the coming year, students outline the toll that Pittsburgh’s ballooning deer population is taking on the environment and city residents and offer recommendations to address the issue.
“From 2004 to 2023 the number of deer carcasses collected by the city increased by 411 percent,” said Weber in an op-ed published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “In 2023 alone, we estimate that deer vehicle collisions caused $3.6 million in vehicle damage.”
Weber and his students recommend expanding the city’s bow hunting program to include contracted sharpshooters, a measure that would effectively decrease the city’s deer population in a controlled and humane way. Since its release, the proposal has been highlighted in news segments on KDKA-TV and WPXI, a radio story on 90.5 WSEA, and in various print articles including Pittsburgh Magazine and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Only time will tell if the recommendations outlined in this report will be taken by the city in the coming years. However, the ongoing coverage makes it clear that the city’s residents are paying attention to the problem—and our student’s proposed solutions.